Taking a little peek… Who is in the running for postseason as prep football winds down
Published 12:29 am Wednesday, October 23, 2019
BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
With two weeks left to go in the regular season, many people are starting to talk about what the outlook is as far as playoffs go so here is a quick look at Region 1 and Region 2 and the playoff scenarios as they stand right now.
Region 1 this year will get to host playoff games so those teams that win their conference already have a leg up as they have earned the right to play host throughout the playoffs should they keep winning.
Cloudland has already signed their name on the dotted line as a Region champion and Elizabethton moved in the right direction on Friday night with its win over Greeneville.
Here is a quick glance at both regions and possible matchups.
Class 4-A
As it stands right now, the Cyclones are in sole possession of first place with a 4-0 record followed by Friday’s opponent, Sullivan South, with a 4-1 region record.
Greeneville is currently third with a 3-1 record followed by Grainger at 2-2.
The Cyclones are favored to beat the Rebels which will give South two region losses with one being to Greeneville so should that play out and it remains the same way until the end of the regular season, then the Cyclones would be No. 1 and Greeneville No.2. The Rebels would fall to third and Grainger being the fourth representative.
That gives the Cyclones home field throughout with the Greene Devils hosting as well in week one of the playoffs and South and Grainger traveling as the Rebels would play the No. 2 seed in Region 2 and Grainger with the daunting task of taking on number one in Region 2.
Right now in Region 2, Anderson County and East Hamilton are a perfect 4-0 in region play but that will change Friday as they butt heads with the Mavericks traveling to East Hamilton with first place on the line.
The third-place team in Region 2 is Howard who has already lost to Anderson Co. 42-0 and will finish up with East Hamilton to close out the regular season. East Ridge appears to be headed for the fourth team out of Region 2.
A possible scenario then would have East Ridge traveling to Elizabethton (should ‘Betsy beat South), Howard coming to Greeneville, South going to the loser of Anderson Co. and East Hamilton and Grainger headed to the winner of Region 2.
Again, there are games that still are to be played so this is taking into account the way the regions are right now.
Class 2-A
In Region 2-A there is a clustered mess heading into the final two weeks of play thanks in part to the outcome of this past weekend’s play. As of right now, there are three teams logged jam with 2-1 records as Happy Valley, South Greene, and Hampton are all sitting knotted together.
Happy Valley has beaten Hampton, Hampton has beaten South Greene, and Sullivan North beat Happy Valley. Sullivan North is only one game back at 2-2.
Warrior coach Jason Jarrett and Bulldog coach Michael Lunsford said in preseason that the league could come down to the final games of the season and that is looking like a great premonition to see exactly how one through four will shake out.
The Warriors, Bulldogs, and Raiders all have non-conference matchups this week which won’t change anything and South Greene has their bye week. Region 1 Class 2-A will be wild, to say the least, next week in the final games of the season.
In Region 2, the Meigs County Tigers who are ranked in the state’s top 10 stand at the top of the heap with a 3-0 region mark followed by the Oneida Indians who are 3-1 in region play,
Rockwood and Cumberland Gap are tied with 1-2 records at the current time so there will have to be some sorting out going on here.
The one thing that Region 1 teams do not want to do and that is to make the trip to Meigs County to open the playoffs so that is playing in the minds of the four teams from our area who are battling to gain either first or second place and staying home week one of the playoffs.
This will be an interesting class to watch in Region 1 and Region 2 as anxious fans, players, and coaches will have to wait to see how that final week’s games play out.
Class 1-A
The good news for Region 1 is all four teams have already qualified for playoffs with Cloudland already securing the Region 1 home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Hancock County at 2-1 will earn the No. 2 seed and a home game in week one of the playoffs while Jellico (1-2) and Unaka (0-3) will be the road warriors to open the playoffs.
Even with home-field playoff games, facing off with the teams from Region 2 will not be a cakewalk for any of the Region 1 teams as Greenback is Region 2’s top team with a 4-0 record and would face the Rangers followed by Coalfield who is 4-1 in the region with both teams standing overall at 6-2.
Oliver Springs is 3-1 and if things stood the way they are now would tangle with Hancock County. Midway is the fourth team out of Region 2 with a 2-2 record and again if things ended today, the Highlanders would be welcoming Midway (5-4 overall) to Roan Mountain.
While a few things might be unclouded with the next couple of weeks, right now the good news once again is that all five Carter teams will have at least one additional game when the regular season concludes next Friday night.
Right now, the key is to take care of the business that lays before them and try to gain that home field and use that to their advantage as the regular season closes.
